British actress Aimee Lou Wood has spoken out strongly against a Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketch that parodied her character from The White Lotus, calling it “mean and unfunny” and suggesting it was rooted in misogyny.
The 31-year-old, best known for her breakout role in Netflix’s Sex Education, took to Instagram to express her disappointment after the recent SNL skit aired.
The sketch, which imagined Donald Trump and his political circle vacationing at the fictional White Lotus hotel, featured cast member Sarah Sherman portraying Wood’s character, Chelsea, with exaggerated prosthetic teeth and a heavy accent.
At one point in the sketch, the character makes a joke referencing dental hygiene, asking, “Fluoride? What’s that?” — a line Wood felt reduced her to a punchline about her teeth rather than offering any meaningful or clever satire.
“I have big gap teeth, not bad teeth,” Wood clarified, adding, “I’m all for being made fun of when it’s clever and in good spirits, but there must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way.”
Wood said she received apologies from SNL following her public criticism and emphasized that her frustration wasn’t directed at Sherman personally but at the concept of the sketch.
“The rest of the skit was punching up,” she wrote, “and I/Chelsea was the only one punched down on.”
She went on to challenge the broader implications of how female actors, and particularly their appearances, are handled in comedy.
“I don’t know if it was a man would we be talking about it this much?” she asked. “It’s still going on about a woman’s appearance.”
The actress, who hails from Stockport in Greater Manchester, also noted that the attention around her teeth has overshadowed conversations about her actual work.
“It makes me really happy that it’s symbolising rebellion and freedom, but there’s a limit,” she told GQ last week.
Wood’s younger sister Emily also chimed in with a heartfelt Instagram tribute, praising her sibling’s strength and authenticity.
“Her authenticity and originality is incomparable,” she wrote, describing Aimee as her “best human on the planet.”
The backlash has sparked wider conversations online about the ethics of comedy, the treatment of women in media, and the fine line between satire and cruelty.
While Wood made clear she isn’t thin-skinned and understands caricature, her message resounded with thousands who echoed her sentiments in messages of support.
In challenging a high-profile platform like SNL, Wood has not only defended herself but also reignited an important conversation about fairness, sensitivity, and the evolving expectations of modern comedy.
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